this is a hand from a live ring game held at a card room in a casino.

the game is PLHE, the min and max buy in is £25 and the blinds are both £1.

the game is similar to low buy-in online ring except that it is the only game going and so there are about 3 good experienced players at the table. if there is no raise then about 7 players will see a flop. the usual raise pre flop is either £4 or £5 and gets 1 or 2 calls. occaisionally someone will bet the pot and make a larger rise.

i have around £27, button around £40, button is loose and is gambling, with a mixture of passive play and bluffing a bit.

UTG calls, UTG+1 raises making it £5 to go 1 player folds,

i notice that i have AKo and decide that i want to raise. from my last 1/2hr of playing and by how the other players are acting i think that CO and/or button will call the £5. i think i would like to raise to either take the pot or play head up with UTG+1.

at this point some confusion arises. this is due to the fact that UTG+1 (a regular at this game) has no chips in front of him. apparently they are on there way over and a member of staff is getting the chips for him. i question this.

i am told that he is allowed to do this. another regular informs me that i can call for £5. after a while i determine that he is playing the chips that are on there way over and that he will have $40. i have lost my composure slightly i am expecting that he will only have $25

i call the £5 and raise the pot £13 more, leaving me only £9. i realise i will have to call an all in either pre or post flop.

folds to button who calls. everyone else folds.

flop = (not 100% sure but unsuited and not very draw friendly)

i am 1st to act and decide to put in my remaining £9 to give him a chance to fold thinking he is likely to bet if i check and i will have to call.

any oppinions on either the way the hand was played or the situation involving UTG+1 would be appreciated.

(edit: also any questions as i feel i may not have made myself as clear as i could)

this is pot limit,

should i re-raise, or should i save ammo for post flop play?

no advice, but what a crappy structure.

when playin big starting hands like AA, KK, QQ, or AK even JJ, I like to raise big. Sure its nice to play these hands slow but you don't want people cracking them. Theres nothing worse than trying to play AA cute and seeing them get cracked my bad starting hands. Back to talking about AK though. I like to play these fast and strong before the flop. This hand brings down more players than any other it seems to me.

there was only a couple of people left in; i reckon you shud have called. it's unlikely that your gonna get them out of the hand unless you put shitloads of chips in, and you don't even have a pair or suited cards

see the flop as cheaply as possible if there's only a couple of people in,

Final thought: AK = Anna Kornikova - looks great, doesn't play very well

in regards to UTG+1 playing chip that were 'on the way'. Any casino I have played in does not allow a player to play a hand for any more than what he started it with - that is, the chips he has on the table when he starts the hand. More on the way should have no bearing on the hand in play! The fact they arrive after the hand has started is just his bad luck and he would certainly should not be allowed to put them into play until the next hand. I'm surprised the dealer didn't step in and disallow such a move!

I would have simply called the raise. I don't like re-raising with AK since its only a drawing hand. If i had high pocket paint I would re-raise here.

the raise with AK is to minimize the field. The other blokes raise (like my british?) already accomplished that for you. No need to sweeten the pot for the initial raiser.....if you dont hit your flop you are probably done with the hand.

If you are going to raise, then you need to push...this will serve 2 purposes.

1) Potentially win the pot right now.
2) Eliminate positional disadvantage you have in the hand.

I will make this move in a tourney much more than a ring game simply because I tend to be MUCH more conservative in a ring game.

thanks for the responses,

i think i knew i should have called, but i was getting pissed off at the situation involving the initial raiser with no chips at the table and thinking he should not be allowed to do this.

it was a self dealt game but there were some staff around, one of whom was missing and had gone to get the guy his chips, should i have complained?

nice use of british phrases ant

i think i lost my cool during this hand but it all ended up for the best with me doubling up when button showed AQs neither of us improved.

i got critisised by the bloke who made the initial raise, i think he may have been pissed off that he did not to get to see a flop and made comments about me thinking i was playing a tournement.